SIEMENS

City report: Singapore

Forward-looking technologies for a sustainable city

Meeting point: Esplanade, Singapore, August 12, 2011, 12 noon

Khoo Teng Chye, Chief Executive of PUB, Singapore's national water agency, and Executive Director of the Centre for Liveable Cities, discusses with Steffen Endler, Siemens' City Account Manager in Singapore, the challenges the city is facing and what Siemens can do to make urban environments more sustainable.

Fostered by good governance and foresight, Singapore's rapid development is all the more striking if you consider the city-state's lack of natural resources. In particular, water is so scarce in Singapore that natural sources aren’t enough to supply the inhabitants. However, just as in the past, Singapore is thriving in the face of adversity. The country is today a world center for water technology.

__Khoo Teng Chye (left)

Khoo Teng Chye has been Chief Executive of PUB, Singapore's national water agency, since 2003. He is also the Executive Director of Singapore's Centre for Liveable Cities. Mr. Khoo is concurrently a Director of Singapore Utilities International, a PUB subsidiary specializing in water and wastewater technologies, and a member of the managing board of the International Desalination Association Board, a UN NGO that is active in research into water supply, water treatment and desalination technologies. He is also a member of the managing board of the International Water Association and a member of the Civil Service College Board.

__Steffen Endler (right)

Steffen Endler was appointed Siemens' City Account Manager for Singapore in 2011. He also holds a number of key positions in Siemens' Regional Company in Singapore. As Senior Vice President, he supports business development and Siemens One. Since 2006, he has been responsible for the company's business development and government relations in Singapore. Since 2008, he has also headed its strategy, corporate sustainability and key account management activities in the ASEAN region.

01__Steffen Endler

What is your idea of a sustainable city?

02__Khoo Teng Chye

Singapore has been in the business of sustainability ever since we gained independence more than 46 years ago. It’s an island, with practically no hinterland, no natural resources, such as water or energy. So for us, sustainable development is really about survival – how we make sure that we can continue to grow, and to grow in a way that is not at the expense of the environment, while maintaining a high quality of life for our citizens. So, in the last few decades, even before the phrase “sustainable development” became fashionable, we have already been putting it into practice – that is, achieving economic growth while demonstrating concern for the environment and for the quality of life of our citizens.

03__Steffen Endler

Which challenges is Singapore facing now and in the future?

04__Khoo Teng Chye

The challenge for all of us, including Singapore, is addressing climate change. To do so, one has to look at both mitigation and adaptation strategies. For example, being a small island, Singapore is dependent on external energy sources. Therefore, we need to explore ways of becoming more energy-efficient and look for alternative sources of energy, if we want to prepare ourselves for the effects of ­climate change. I think, because of the investments we have made over the past decades, we are well placed to meet these challenges.

05__Steffen Endler

I agree. Singapore has set itself ambitious energy efficiency targets and implemented measures to reach its goals. Last year, for instance, we commissioned and handed over two blocks of a combined-cycle cogeneration power plant to PowerSeraya. This power plant not only creates electricity, it also provides very hot process steam to a petrochemical plant on Jurong Island. When run in cogeneration mode, this power plant emits 40% less CO2 than its predecessor due to an increased thermal efficiency of over 75%.

06__Khoo Teng Chye

And there is one area that is particularly important for ­Singapore’s future development, and that is, of course, water. We are very keen on saving water, and are watching cities across the world closely for ideas. Singapore will still need to produce drinking water industrially to be self sufficient and we have to marshal our water resources carefully. Munich’s Isar River, for example, is a good showcase of how a city’s water resources can make very beautiful living spaces for its citizens. We also work closely with companies such as Siemens to develop clean drinking water. Your expertise has helped us a great to deal in producing clean water industrially.

07__Steffen Endler

The collaboration with PUB for our R&D in water technology is a real highlight. The framework we have here in Singapore to do this kind of R&D very close to the real business environment is unique.

08__Khoo Teng Chye

It’s a partnership that grew out of the fact that water is a strategic resource for us. And to ensure sustainability in water in the future, we think it’s important to invest in new water technologies. That’s why we have been able to create NEWater, or recycled water, with the help of Siemens. Looking forward, we think it’s important to develop our desalination capabilities by bringing down the energy required in the process. Thus far, the government, through the National Research Foundation, has allocated about €170 million for investment in water research. We’re very glad that Siemens has joined hands with us to invest in creating a research center for water in Singapore. It is an example of good partnership between the government and the private sector.

09__Steffen Endler

The commonly used systems today for sea water desalination need around 7.0 kWh/m³ for sea water to desalt. The best available technologies today need roughly 3.5 to 4.0 kWh/m³, but we now have a development project which aims for 1.5 kWh/m³. Over the past two years, we have been developing this new desalination technology, and since December 2010, we have been operating a pilot unit at one of the PUB water plants. It will take a little more time to upscale it to a fully commercialsized application, but once ready, this techno­l­ogy will be relevant and applicable all around the globe. Besides desalination, we have other technologies which we develop here in our global R&D center. For instance, we are looking into advanced biological waste­water treatment. We can treat wastewater, which is rich in nutrients while creating energy. So eventually, we are aiming to perform wastewater treatment with zero energy consumption.

10__Khoo Teng Chye

This is an example of Singapore being, if you like, a living laboratory. In fact, we are creating new towns such as ­Punggol in the northeast of Singapore with a very holistic approach that is based on ecological and sustainable principles.

11__Steffen Endler

These principles are captured in our City of the Future ex­hibition, which Siemens opened in Singapore in 2009. It is a place for people from all over the world to experience Siemens’ latest innovative technological offerings for ­cities. Since its launch two years ago, we have had visitors from all over the world. It is a platform for us to speak with city stakeholders, to help us better understand urban ­scenarios, challenges and present needs, and to show ­decision-makers what our vision of the city of the future looks like from a technology perspective.

12__Khoo Teng Chye

What that exhibition demonstrates vividly to city managers, city planners and mayors is that they have to take an integrated approach to manage the problems of a city. They can do that with technology, as we have shown in Singapore, as well as with the appropriate policies and investments. Technological solutions should be accompanied by decisive leadership and well-conceived policies.

13__Steffen Endler

Singapore may be a fairly mature market in terms of sustainability, but from our point of view, it still has lots of potential. For example, we are currently providing the electrification for the Downtown Line of Singapore’s metro system. In another project, extending over several years, we have also upgraded the communication system in existing stations. Singapore will invest heavily in two new lines in the next decade, and Siemens is of course very keen on supplying its technology in terms of train sets, train automation, power supply and communications systems. We have also installed a charging station for electric cars at the Siemens Center in Singapore, and we aim to become Singapore’s leading partner for electric cars and electric mobility infrastructure. Because of its natural boundaries as an island, Singapore is a nearly ideal test environment. We hope that the government will push electric mobility as a viable transportation mode for public and private traffic.

14__Khoo Teng Chye

Urbanization, more and more people living in cities, is a challenge we face, not only in Singapore but in the rest of Asia, in the rest of the world. And we also have to deal with the challenge of climate change. The kinds of solutions Siemens has to offer in terms of water, in terms of energy and in terms of mobility will show increasing demand over the next several years.